CINCINNATI (AP) — Mitt Romney narrowly outdueled Rick Santorum for the Republican presidential nomination in Ohio, claiming the hotly contested, pivotal Super Tuesday state.
Romney did best in Ohio metropolitan areas, as well as among voters worried about the economy and making sure the GOP nominated the best candidate to defeat President Barack Obama.
The former Massachusetts governor had nearly 38 percent of the vote with 99 percent of precincts reporting unofficial returns. Santorum was 12,040 votes behind, or a little more than 1 percentage point, with 439,932 votes. While the margin was tight, state officials said it was big enough to avoid triggering an automatic recount.
Romney prevailed in another November swing state to bolster his front-runner status over the former Pennsylvania senator. Santorum, who ran best among conservatives, had broad geographic support that was topped by Romney’s strength in vote-rich metro areas such as Cleveland, Columbus, Akron, and Cincinnati that include some of the state’s biggest suburbs.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich was third, at 15 percent, in the state that lies between Romney’s native Michigan and Santorum’s home state. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who largely bypassed Ohio, was running fourth at 9 percent.
Polls have tracked voter volatility among Ohio Republicans for months. Pizza magnate Herman Cain — who dropped out of the race in December — Gingrich and Santorum have all leapfrogged past Romney, only to fall back in the last six months. Late polls also indicated that significant numbers of likely Ohio primary voters said they might change their minds once they were casting their ballots.
Early results from an Ohio exit poll Tuesday found that many voters were undecided about a candidate until recently, with more than half saying they didn’t decide until the last few days or weeks.
The state’s geographic and economic diversity — cities, small towns, farmland and swaths of suburbs, along with Rust Belt manufacturing, agriculture, medical and high-tech businesses — made it a key test for the Republican contenders. No Republican nominee has reached the White House without carrying Ohio. President Barack Obama carried the state in 2008, after it delivered George W. Bush’s clinching re-election margin in 2004.
Both candidates focused on Ohio in the last days before Tuesday’s voting in 10 states. They crisscrossed the state and blitzed airwaves with ads. Santorum planned to watch returns in Steubenville, in eastern Ohio.
Gingrich made a weekend swing through Ohio, hoping to pick up some of the state’s 63 delegates at stake. Even if Santorum wins the state, he faces leaving 18 delegates on the table because his campaign didn’t get enough delegate candidates on all ballots.
Paul concentrated on states holding GOP caucuses Tuesday, although Ohio backers said he had pockets of support across the state. It’s also relatively easy to cross over in Ohio’s primaries, so Paul supporters wooed Democrats and independents, especially college-age ones.
Ohio has 66 Republican delegates total, including three party “super delegates” who aren’t bound by the primary results.
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